Sexton, Anne

To Bedlam and Part Way Back

Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1960. First Edition. Hardcover. “Few poets have so plainly confronted guilt, loss, the intractability of events. And few have shown so clearly the saving exuberance of the poetic eyes — its unhesitating commitment to the here and now. It is this commitment to life that gives a retrospective poem like ‘Some Foreign Letters’ its overwhelming immediacy; It is the informing spirit of the final group of poems, which show a woman winning her way back to sanity and love.” (from front flap) Presented here is Anne Sexton’s (1928-1974) first collection of poetry To Bedlam and Part Way Back. Sexton was an American poet born to financially comfortable but ultimately unloving parents and was incredibly popular during her lifetime. She won multiple awards for her writing with being a finalist for the National Book Award. This collection of poetry is a haunting, though beautiful, recollection of Sexton’s psychiatric struggles that surfaced following the birth of her second child in 1955. Sexton, like her contemporary and Confessional poet friend Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), was a woman daunted by her own depths and such depths are truly enunciated in a collection such as this. Obtained by our Brothers in Bookselling Michael Brophy of Doyle's Books in Fayetteville, NY (doylesbooks.com) at the annual Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair held on October 13, 2024. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket: First collected edition with all previous publications of poems cited at copyright page, first printing stated thereon. Book is in near fine condition with staining & toning at upper and lower edges of book boards; bumping at top of spine; warped outer edges of book boards and browning / staining at lower edge of interior pages. Dust jacket is near good with moderate staining/browning at lower left edge near spine and lower right edge of front cover & bottom of spine; mild open tear at front cover near spine; mild open tear at lower edge near spine; moderate open tearing at top of spine; moderate open tear at upper left edge of back cover; moderate rubbing to front and back covers; considerable toning to interior of jacket; and bumping & fraying to fine edges. Previous owners (Eugene Allen Hensley) Ex Libris at front pastedown. Near Fine / Near Good. [Item #7073]

Price: $200.00